AFTER a lifetime of activities like sport – including the offer of being a professional footballer – Mr Bernard Metcalfe has died aged 74.
Mr Metcalfe, of Langholme Street, Nelson, has also been involved in other roles, including working in the textile industry and helping to establish the area’s community credit union.
His funeral took place at Burnley Crematorium on April 9th. He had been a good man and cared for his family, and had numerous hobbies and interests. He was born at Nelson’s Fernlea Maternity Home in October, 1938.
When he was 16 and a pupil at St Mary’s College in Blackburn, he was offered an apprenticeship to play for Blackburn Rovers. But in those days footballers were pretty badly paid and his parents persuaded him to get a “proper” job! He also had the offer of playing for Nelson FC, but the letter was mislaid.
He and his wife Marilyn met at Nelson’s Imperial Ballroom. They married in 1958, had a long and happy marriage for over 50 years and had four children – Christine, Jackie, Andy and Tony.
For a long time he worked at James Nelson Mill and was a production planner. He left before it closed and worked for G-Plan, Perseverance Mill, Monitor Design and Glasdon before becoming a lunchtime supervisor at Nelson’s Walverden School. He was known as “the dinner lady man” by children!
Bernard was honoured in this newspaper as a young man for being a key goal scorer with his St Joseph’s team.
His wife said: “Bernard played in one of the teams at Thomas Street Bowling Club. He was chairman during the 1980s. He had several small trophies for sporting achievements. He threw them away several years ago as he thought they were just collecting dust! When the Nelson Community Credit Union – now Pennine CCU – was founded, he was one of the early volunteers.”